The headline of this story has a lot of genres and descriptions included because Push for Emor isn’t a simple game. This isn’t just another wave shooter, you won’t find any zombies here, and you can actually move around. It’s an action-adventure title, mixed with a shooter, that also has RPG and RTS elements sprinkled in. There are close to a dozen planets, several solar systems, quests, NPCs to talk to, space-based and ground-based combat, exploration, and so much more are just a few of the items on the feature list. Oh, and it was made by pretty much just one guy.
Ambitious is an understatement for Lupus Solus, the one-man development studio headed by Garry Hamer that crafted Push for Emor.
“This is my first game,” Hamer admits during an email interview. “I am a commercial C# programmer by trade, but I was really interested in the VooDoo mystery that is Game Development. One quick download later and I was looking at Unity3d’s interface and feeling very excited and geeky about the whole situation.”
A quick glance at the feature list, screenshots, and video footage feels reminiscent of the promise issued by Hello Games’ and No Man’s Sky a few years ago, albeit something a bit less grand and fantastical. When asked how it compares to that game, or the likes of Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen, and others, Hamar was honest.
“Those are some big hitters with a lot of money behind them, and I think it would be foolish of me to say that my single man project, made on a budget of a cheese sandwich and a bottle of red wine, is better than them,” he quipped. “But, I do believe that Push For Emor has somethings to offer that might not be found in those AAA titles. Push is a game that has been made for VR from the very start. That doesn’t just mean that the menu’s work with a headset. There are certain things that I have incorporated into the game that, whilst looking good on a monitor, have been implemented to give the player an ‘OMG wow’ moment when they encounter them in VR. When you first spawn in the Mothership at the beginning of the game, the first time you get in the flying car, when you drop the heavy stuff for the first time; these are things (to name a few) that I’m hoping will leave the player grinning.”
The heavy dose of humor helps as well. The tagline he has been rolling with thus far is that it’s a game which is “Seriously made, but does not take itself too seriously.” The sentiment shows through, as most of the mission text in Push for Emor is quite humorous with lots of references and Easter Eggs.
Ultimately though, the versatile VR support is one of the stand out features. With official integration on Steam for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, OSVR, and tracked motion controllers, as well as seated, standing, and room-scale configurations, play options are robust. In fact, when using motion controllers, there are a multitude of movement solutions available as well. In addition to traditional FPS controls with complete artificial locomotion, you can also opt for arc-teleporting like in The Lab. Plus, he’s built in a fast-forward style movement, similar to Raw Data and Island 359. Finally, you can even toggle on a cruise control mode, which lets you move forward without doing anything. It’s useful for traveling long distances.
“I have found that once people get to grips with the locomotion system for the Vive [and motion controllers] they tend to mix and match as they move through the world,” Hamer explains. “Once the player has completed the first planet and got into space, the game really opens up. A trip to the space station unlocks the warp gate that gives the player access to the first solar system and 3 more planets (early access will have four planets in total to explore.) The player is able to visit these planets in any order they choose and some planets will hold items needed to complete missions on neighboring worlds.”
In Early Access now, that’s more or less what’s available on Steam. There are plans of course to add more worlds, more missions, more items, and just all around more content to fill out the universe, but the core framework and heavy lifting is mostly finished at this point. When I asked him about multiplayer plans, it wasn’t in the cards for now — at least not yet.
“In a nutshell, Push For Emor is a fun romp across different different planets which includes lots of different weapons, vehicles and spaceships to use/drive/fly,” Hamer finalizes.
You can play Push for Emor in Steam Early Access right now, where it has official support for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and OSVR, as well as tracked motion controllers, and seated, standing, or room-scale play styles. The game costs $12.99 during its discounted phase of Early Access availability.
